Marketing for CPA Firms and How to get leads

Offline

One of these is offline marketing which does not require you to have any kind of website or social media presence or any online presence at all.
Below are some of the methods you can achieve the goal of getting some leads if you don’t want to spend time, effort and money on online marketing for CPA Firms.

First comes First
Stop running around and choose a business type that you are familiar with for example you can choose local restaurants, mechanics shops, or electronic repair shop it doesn’t matter as long as you know a little about their business on how they operate and how they deal with clients, this helps you to start a conversation with them. (If you don’t have any prerequisite knowledge about your desired business type just read a little about them online or watch a video or 2)

1.       Find Networking Activities
Face-to-face meetups, even virtual ones these days, continue to play a valuable role in networking.
Pro tip: – Carry some business cards where ever you go
Choose your opportunities wisely. Seek out associations or organizations to which your target audience belongs. In time, you might take networking even further by attending — or better, speaking at — their conferences.

2.       Attend Association Conferences and Trade Shows of your Target audience
Trade shows can provide opportunities to network with both prospective buyers and other industry leaders. In addition, these events can offer other offline marketing opportunities — for instance, they are ideal places to distribute your print materials or explore the possibility of becoming a future featured speaker.

3.       Warm Calling
To be honest nobody wants to receive a call from a person that is asking them to purchase something, while not as common as they once were, calls to prospects have a personal touch, and they can still resonate with interested buyers. In our most recent research, phone calls are experiencing a renaissance, especially among the new firms.
Pro tip: – Start the conversation with the common ground for instance
“Hey John
I am Steve we both attended the XYZ conference and after hearing you talk I liked the way you do business ….”
A “warm” prospect is one who not only knows of your firm but has been exposed to your thought leadership —though offline techniques such as speaking engagements. Some firms even use the call itself as an opportunity to offer the prospect a piece of valuable content to make their expertise more tangible.

4.       Meet people at their work place
Meeting people where they work can be one of the most useful tricks that you could do for your firm as people tend to be more inclined to listen about their business growth or money at their work place for e.g., you can meet a cafe owner at their café and talk about their shop their and their bookkeeping efforts.

5.       Use Local Magazine/ Newspaper
Another way to get your firm message out to your target market is to give away printed marketing material. Flyer printing or magazines may seem like an old tactic, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t get results, especially if you’re heading to a trade show, or trying to gain some visibility in your local area. Even today people seem to trust information about their business from some physical media.

6.       Cross- Promotion
Consider working with other brands you relate to who stand for similar values and business model. You can work together to co-develop products or co-sponsor events, as well as develop exclusive services! For e.g. you can tie up with your local real estate agent or lawyer to get some leads on who their commercial customers are and you can ask them to push your name around and you can do the same for them.

Online

Now comes the online part if you have dried up all your resources in the offline pool or are not getting enough success there then the internet is your playground.
Tips on How to Market an Accounting Firm online

1.       Create / update your website
You can build a website using tools like WordPress / squarespace / wix  or hire a freelance web developer to the job for you. Make it in such a way that even a 10-year-old can read/ understand and navigate the website. Do your research on whom you want this website to cater towards. Choose proper Images / colors and logo for your website.  

2.       Do the SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
Included in building your accounting firm’s website is having keywords for Search Engine Optimization (SEO). SEO is the process of maximizing the number of visitors to your website by ensuring that the site appears on top of the list of results returned by a search engine like google / bing.
Pro Tip:- Whether you handle SEO in-house or not, local search results are highly influenced by other online references to your business.

3.       Start (and maintain) a regular blog
A blog can be an opportunity for your accounting firm to become a “thought leader” and showcase the knowledge and insights of your partners and staff. By focusing on topics relevant to your target audience, you’ll pull in readers and develop a reputation as a firm who’s an authority on subjects that are top of mind for today’s business owners and individuals.

4.       Use social media effectively
Social media benefits for business are huge and that is why it is one of the most powerful digital marketing methods that are used increase your brand’s visibility and awareness. Many firms often create website and forget about social media all together. LinkedIn can be one of the best social media platforms for a business like accountants.
Pro tip:- Join Groups on LinkedIn and Facebook for better results

5.       Create and manage google business listing
Google business listings can these days improve your business visibility a lot. Use google business as if you are using Facebook and Instagram, post regular updates there so that viewers are always informed about your business. This can also help you gather some leads.

6.       Create and Maximize email marketing efforts
While most firms communicate with clients regularly via email, most are not fully capitalizing on this opportunity. Make the most of your email marketing efforts with regular updates and eye-catching content.

7.       List your business in Online directories
Just like the old age yellow books today’s online directories can help people find your business on world wide web. Some of the great platforms are clutch / Yahoo business.

8.       Rinse and Repeat
Try and test all the steps above and see what works for your use case

When we look at these tips holistically, an important common thread runs throughout — analytics. Data is boss and it is why digital marketing is so important because it allows for data be analyzed.
Although making and maintaining your online presence can seem quite a daunting task for a single person or even a 2-3 people as these processes distract you from your main objective that is to run your business.

0TO1 Media can help you gain the much-needed advantage as we have a team of dedicated developers, writers, analysts and consultants that can do all the work for you.
Currently we are offering Free Domain and Hosting for a year on our marketing plans. You can also get a free Brand Consulting on your first call.